Once Common Hitching Post Now a Rare Find
By Gary Van Hoozer
When you go to town, turning off your car's ignition is the main thing to do after parking. But in the days of real horsepower, tying up to an iron ring or a hitching post was standard procedure.
"Horses and mules, and about anything used on or with them, has always interested me after growing up in a small Texas town," says Bob Maclin, who now lives in Lexington, Ky. "That includes curiosity about hitching posts and their many designs."
The Texas town Bob refers to has long since been absorbed by urban sprawl, but as a young man, he saw many wagon teams, buggy horses and riding horses tied at the county wagon yard after they arrived in town. Blacksmith shops were located on three corners of the town square, with a hitching post or rail at each. And many homes had hitching posts a few feet from the street or road.
Collecting hitching posts is rewarding, he says, because ornate ones can be considered examples of Americana. Posts - both those manufactured in large numbers, and the locally produced models are increasingly scarce.
"Unfortunately, during World War II, scrap drives resulted in many hitching posts being broken up with sledge hammers for the war effort, as were metal flower urns and garden ornaments," Bob says. "A renewed interest in hitching posts has led to modern USA reproductions cast from aluminum. Some crude imports are also frequently found."
The hitching post probably originated in Europe, Bob says. Records show English use of the hitching post as early as 1625, with some of the oldest ones cut from stone (they also served as distance markers between villages). Many public buildings in England had stone hitching posts and public water troughs.
In the U.S., the oldest posts were made of stone or wood. Charles Bush, Newbury, N.Y., was issued the first patent in 1861. The post was made of cast iron, and had a top ring encased in a sleeve that was inserted in the ground. With a twist, the post could be pulled up for use; when not in use, it retracted into the sleeve.
"The oldest hitching post in my collection dates from around 1800," Bob says. "It has an iron horse head, and is upright when not in use. Tilting the head allows the reins to slide under the head, and as the head tilts forward, the reins are gripped by teeth and held secure until the horse head is again tilted. It grips in a fashion similar to a plumber's pipe wrench."
Bob says that in the 1870s and for several decades thereafter, many patents followed in just about every design imaginable, though most posts were made of cast iron. The posts were generally 38 to 40 inches tall, with a ring, slot or hole which bridle reins could be attached to or tied through.